


Forgetting is Never That Easy...

by obscure_obscurus



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, dead to me au, some characters may be slightly ooc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 04:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19077874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obscure_obscurus/pseuds/obscure_obscurus
Summary: Sun radiating down was something that Credence had never grown accustomed too.  In the six years that he’d resided in California, it was still a shock to his system every time he stepped outside.  Moving there, into the foothills of Malibu had been Theseus’ grand idea.  It had been his home once he’d moved to the states and Credence well, he’d never really had a stable home life so where they lived didn’t matter much to him.  At least that’s what he thought at the time.  Except the sun beaming down on his pale complexion did nothing good for Credence who lived most summers for the past six years on the verge of sunburn.  It was almost as if mother nature was playing some horrific joke on him.Two months ago the cops came knocking late one night.  Credence had been expecting Theseus back any time.  He was late after leaving for a run.  When he looked through the peephole, his heart fell out of his chest.  The police were standing outside concern written on their faces.





	Forgetting is Never That Easy...

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't been posting much lately. I have been working on many fics and polishing them but recently watched this show that was so very interesting in the concept that I needed to write Gradence in this universe. 
> 
> I hope that everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did writing it.

Sun radiating down was something that Credence had never grown accustomed too.  In the six years that he’d resided in California it was still a shock to his system every time he stepped outside.  Moving there, into the foothills of Malibu had been Theseus’ grand idea. It had been his home once he’d moved to the states and Credence well, he’d never really had a stable home life so where they lived didn’t matter much to him.  At least that’s what he thought at the time. Except the sun beaming down on his pale complexion did nothing good for Credence who lived most summers for the past six years on the verge of sunburn. It was almost as if mother nature was playing some horrific joke on him.

 

Two months ago the cops came knocking late one night.  Credence had been expecting Theseus back any time. He was late after leaving for a run.  When he looked through the peephole, his heart fell out of his chest. The police were standing there concern written on their faces.  

 

Words intermixed with utter devastation.  The only thing that made sense was that Credence was now alone.  Completely and utterly alone. “Theseus had been the victim of a hit and run.”  That was the only part of the statement that stuck out… like a sore thumb. It was a papercut that festered.  

 

Their relationship had been far from perfect, but at that moment, Credence was angry.  Words would never be able to express how upset he was. “They just left him for dead.”  That was the way Credence came to explain it to Tina and Newt when they made their way over half an hour later.  The officer had called the couple to make sure that the young man was okay. 

 

In the two months since that day, the time went by in a haze.  Barely functioning, angry at someone he didn't even know. But, that anger was what kept Credence going, gave him a purpose.  Without it, what would he have left?. The confusion of a life that was left behind when Theseus died on the side of the road? It hardly seemed worth living until he thought about finding the person who hit his partner and left him for dead. 

 

=======

 

Everyone looked the same… frumpy.  Disheveled in the way only someone who had gone through significant trauma and never quite recovered could pull off.  Credence was envious. Here he was trying to be..  _ “normal” _   and falling.  

 

“This is a safe place. A place to share your grief.”  The group leader smiled, and though he was kind in a way that Credence knew had to be genuine, he was still uncomfortable. 

 

And those words made Credence want to run and hide.  He'd remained separate from everyone before the meeting.  Now was not the time to start spilling life secrets, sorted stories or any whoa is me tale.  

 

For a long time, no one said anything.  The head of the group finally spoke up.  “I suppose since there are a few new people today, I'll start.  My name's Jacob, and I started this group after being discharged from the Marines.  I was wounded in combat, and many of my unit perished. It's a guilt that I live with every day.” 

 

_ \-- And it wasn't like anything Credence dealt with was like that.  He was grieving a loss, pissed because there were no answers and he was stuck in limbo waiting.  _

 

Before he could say anything else, another person started to speak. Credence’s eyes shot up and began to search for the oddly calm voice.  “I recently lost my fiance. He was… “ Though the words trailed off, no one pushed for more. Everyone else busy diverting their gaze from the man that was speaking. 

 

“That sucks…” Credence muttered under his breath.  The sentiment was quickly shared by the rest of the group though no one stated it with such eloquence. 

 

The guy that had been speaking looked at him and smiled. “That's the most accurate way of putting it.”

 

The meeting then dissolved into small groups along with refreshments while the two ended up talking for a few minutes.  Most of the conversation was nothing more than mundane. That's how Credence would have described it. “My name's Credence by the way. My partner passed away in a hit and run." As soon as Credence could see the man searching for something to say, he shook his head. “The hardest part is being angry. So angry, I don't know what to do with myself.  You don't need to apologize for that.” 

 

In a way, Credence was relieved that he was among other people that could in some way understand what he was going through.  Everyone’s loss was different, they dealt with it in different ways, but the beautiful thing about that was that no one judged one another about the way they did the grieving.  

 

“Well then Credence, I'm Percy… Percival actually but who wants to be called Percival?”. Laughing, the man looked at the younger gentleman and paused for a moment.  “I won't apologize to you but if you ever want to talk outside of this group I'd be willing.” 

 

_ \--- Say no Credence.  That's the smart thing to do.  _

 

Credence pulled out his phone and tapped a text message then glanced up.  “I need your phone number to send you a message so that you have my number.”  Credence figured that was the easiest way for the two to exchange numbers. 

 

Percy rattled off the numbers then waited for the text to come through.  “Got it… Now if you ever can't sleep, give me a call.” 

 

====

 

Percival sat at home… A rented room really, watching some mindless television when his phone buzzed. The last thing he'd expected was Credence to ever take him up on the offer. Instead of answering right away, he allowed the phone to ring a couple of times before picking it up. 

 

“Hello?”  The word came out as more of a question than he’d meant.

 

====

 

A house, a guest house, and a yard that would have been perfect for a large family not the couple the two of them made up.  Credence paced aimlessly wondering why Theseus ever wanted all this space. It seemed like overkill.  Especially now with just one person. The two had never intended to have a family. Credence wanted one, kids, the whole shebang… Theseus, on the other hand, never wanted anything other than Credence.  

 

Tina and Newt stopped by.  They did every night. Credence started to wonder if they were babysitting him.  “You know you don't have to check on me every night. I've got to get back to the real world at some point.” 

 

“No one said it had to be this quick though.” Tina tried to interject 

 

Frowning Credence wondered if he was starting to look like a fool. “Two months… It's been two months, Tina.  I've got to move on eventually.” That was something that Credence wasn't entirely sure how to do, though. 

 

Newt smiled and reached for Tina's hand. “Come on… We need to give Credence some space for the evening.”

 

And in theory that sounded great.  Time to get back to himself, but it had been six years since Credence had been himself.  He wasn't sure what to do. So instead he stared at the wall for far longer than he should have.  Then he paced through a too big house, around a yard that he didn’t know what he was going to do with, tried to read a book that had lost all interest months ago before he picked up his phone and stared at it for a long time.  

 

It was late, probably too late to call anyone. Ordinary people were usually asleep by midnight, especially if they worked the next day.  Percival did say that Credence could call if he ever couldn’t sleep. Taking a deep breath, Credence dialed the phone.  If he didn’t answer, he didn’t answer.

 

When the phone started to ring, Credence got nervous.  What was he doing? Why on earth was he calling a total stranger for no other reason than he couldn’t sleep?  Before he had a chance to hang up through a voice on the other end of the line meant it was too late.

 

“Hello?”  And the question in it meant that Percival hadn’t expected Credence to call.

 

“Percival?”  Credence paused for a moment before diving head first into his ramblings.  “It’s Credence. Were you sleeping? I’m sorry if you were sleeping I can… well, I can let you go.”  Taking a breath, he finally gave the man on the other end a moment to say something.

 

Laughing, Percival cleared his throat.  “I wasn’t sleeping. I wasn’t expecting you to call.  I figured you were just… being nice and taking my number.” 

 

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”  Credence blurted out before he realized how it sounded.  

 

Percival started to laugh.  “Desperate, huh?” 

 

“Well, I didn’t mean it that way.”  Credence answered quickly. “It’s just that I couldn’t sleep and I’ve done about six or seven laps around my house and the yard. I wasn’t sure what else to do without driving myself crazy. I’ve taken up jogging to retrace the path my partner was on when…” Credence trailed off and let the silence drag on.  He was in no rush to finish that thought. 

 

Percival took a breath.  “You know it’s not crazy.  You’ve got to do whatever makes you feel better.”  Though he hadn’t been the one that managed to do that at all since he’d split with Gellert things had been a mess. A clusterfuck if he’d ever lived one.  

 

Credence yawned.  “What happened with your ex?  If you don’t mind me asking.” 

 

And here was the predicament.  Percival was dealing with grief, not the same kind that most people in the group had been.  No death, but his loss was just as permanent. At least to him, it was, a door that once it closed had been permanently bolted shut.  There was no going back, not for either of them. “My ex and I didn’t want the same things. We had to end our partnership, and we were in the middle of trying to adopt.  We lost everything. I lost everything. I don’t think that was a life he ever really wanted. I don’t think that the end of our partnership hurt him nearly as much as it hurt me.”  

 

He was thinking back to that night and driving down that deserted road, yelling at the top of his lungs, eyes blurry with unshed tears.  He shouldn’t have been driving. As soon as the topic had been brought up, Percival should have pulled over until the end of the conversation.  Instead, he kept driving, his speed creeping up, and slowly becoming erratic. Had Percival not glanced over at Gellert in the heat of argument perhaps he would have seen the man on the side of the road?  He didn’t, though. At the time Gellert convinced Percival who was far too emotional that he had barely clipped the guy, but the more he thought about it, the more he doubted that was the case.  It was something that left him feeling very guilty every day.

 

The more he let Credence talk; the more Percival wondered if there was any way that this could be the partner of the man that they as it was so nicely put to him _ “clipped.”  _

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably going to be two more chapters.
> 
> I got a dreamwidth and cannot figure out the best way to use it. I'm such a techno goof when it comes to that stuff. Anyways... mistakes are my own, kudos and comments are always VERY much appreciated.


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